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"Gnyaaaha shhhh-" It was a testament to Jack's life and character that this exclamation and one step backwards were his sole reactions to the spider that scuttled into view.
He cut off his cry and stayed perfectly still. He slowly eased the tension out of his muscles, unclenched his hand from his P-90 and gently raised it to his radio.
He tried to speak but had to swallow first. He spoke softly, moving his lips as little as possible. "Kids. Watch out for spiders." He began to ease one foot backwards through the leaves.
"Spiders, sir?" chirped Sam.
"Little less loud there, Carter. Giant spiders."
"How big is giant?" murmured Daniel.
"'Bout six feet across."
"Gneep!" said Sam.
"Oh," said Daniel.
"Indeed," said Teal'c, in a grim sort of voice.
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L3K-609 was a nice sort of planet. The Stargate opened onto a plain of blue-green, thigh-high grass, ruffled by a warm wind. The grass was broached by occasional spires of dark grey rock, shot with red crystals. A river ran past the 'gate to a distant tall forest with a dense canopy. On the rock spires near the forest were several large, primitive, multi-coloured windmills. SG-1 was there to investigate the crystals and the windmills.
When they reached the windmills, Daniel started studying and Sam started sampling. Jack left Teal'c to guard them and went off to scout the outskirts of the forest. The trees were big, many trunks wider than him and some only three widths apart. There were distant whistles, shrills and cheeps. On Earth, he'd be sure they were bird calls. Offworld, who knew? The light was dimmer than the usual kind of forest that they found, so he took off his sunglasses and cap. He walked softly, preferring, if possible, to surprise the natives rather than the other way round.
The ground was mossy, stony, mulchy, with a few narrow animal trails and no sign of human ones. Vines and tendrils of moss hung from the branches. He paused on the edge of a shallow dell. Tree roots dived in and out of the ground, passing among scattered stones and a large, rough, fallen stump. There was stillness all around. He walked a few silent steps.
Eight mossy roots scuttled, shooting the log into Jack's path. Jack's yell froze it in place. Eight eyes the size of golf balls looked at him. It stood exposed. Legs not roots, a body not a stump, hair not moss or rough bark. Giant spider. And beneath its eyes, were two curved, pointed fangs, the length of his hand.
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Jack began to ease his second foot backwards. The spider stared at him.
Teal'c's voice came low through the radio. "O'Neill, where are you?"
"Half a klick to the south west," whispered Jack.
"Can you defend yourself if it attacks?"
"Yep. Right now I'm backing away slowly. Don't want to risk firing yet."
Sam whispered, "You could try waving and making noise, sir. You might scare it away."
"Or he might cause it to attack," said Teal'c.
"What about playing dead?" murmured Daniel.
"Isn't that bears?" whispered Sam.
"I thought it was elephants."
"Elephants?"
"What do you do for spiders?" asked Daniel.
"Whack 'em with a newspaper."
"You kill them?"
"I do not believe O'Neill has a ten-foot newspaper," said Teal'c. "I recommend one clean shot."
"Where do you shoot a spider?" asked Daniel.
"I do not know."
Jack said, "You're all useless. O'Neill out." He lowered his hand to his P-90 and started to move his weight onto his new back foot.
The spider stayed still. Jack couldn't take his eyes off it. He was touched by a sudden worry that it might be holding his attention while he backed into its partner. Nothing he could do about that. Once he was out of the dell, he'd take quick look around.
In five minutes, he had taken as many steps. He was starting on his next when he noticed one of the spider's hind legs twitching. He braced himself. The leg moved backwards, away from him. Then another began to move. Jack continued his backwards step. The spider did the same. Jack hoped this meant it was backing away too, not positioning for a better angle of attack. It was retreating more slowly than him but he felt this might be because they were both moving one leg at a time and he had the advantage there.
His foot slipped. As he fell, he swung his gun towards the spider. The spider moved fast. It went straight up. When Jack landed on his back he had a brief view of it dashing up a tree. A stream of silk shot out of its ass and it swung away towards the deep forest.
Jack swung to his feet and crouched, gun tucked close and ready. He combed the canopy as well as he could. Several branches could be spiders' legs; they could just be branches. He clicked his radio. "O'Neill reporting in. It's gone for now. I'm coming out. Keep watch above yourselves, they can travel through the trees."
"Copy," said Sam, "we're near you. We heard a thump."
"Yeah, that was me falling on my ass. Seemed to scare it." Jack left the dell. He moved as swiftly as surefootedness and surveillance would allow. After a minute he spotted his team.
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They were out of the forest and double-timing to the gate when they heard rustling in the grass behind them. Clicking noises sounded above the beat of many feet.
Jack had their sixes. He took a moment to look back. There were at least twenty holes in the grass. They were spread out and moving in the general direction of the 'gate. Suddenly a spider leapt from the grass onto a rock spire. It fired silk to the top of the next spire and swung to its base. There it paused, waved its legs and uttered a stream of clicks. A couple of others jumped to other spires and did the same. Scouts, guessed Jack, and a moment later was sure when the holes began to move more clearly towards SG-1.
"They're coming," yelled Jack. "Pick it up but keep together."
They dropped their packs and ran at full speed towards the 'gate. Jack tried to see if there was anywhere they could make a stand. There was only grass and spires. The spires were worse than the grass; standing beneath one would allow the spiders to be above as well as around them. The 'gate was their only hope.
They didn't make it. When the first spider swung past them, Jack yelled, "Halt. Form a circle, choose a target, fire on my command."
They circled. Teal'c primed his staff weapon, Jack and Sam held their P-90s ready, Daniel pulled his zat.
"Jack, we don't know..."
"Daniel." Jack's voice was blank. Daniel subsided.
Jack chose a target on a rock spire and said "Fire."
The weapons all fired, loud and powerful, the rattle of the guns, the zing-boom of the staff, the whine-whoosh of the zat. There were clicks and screams and then silk shot from all around.
The first cords yanked their weapons from their hands. The next landed on their bodies and they were pulled from their feet.
Sam reached for her handgun, Jack grabbed his knife. Teal'c fought with his fists and Daniel covered his face. Sam's gun was taken.
Jack slashed at the cords with his knife. Another cord caught his knife and pulled it up and away. He saw and felt himself being bundled. He struggled, heard Teal'c's bellows, Sam's yells. He had a sight of Daniel, silk-clad and unmoving, lifted into the air.
"Daniel!"
A spider appeared above him and then he was spinning, being swaddled firmly in sticky, strong thread of silk. He lost his sight, his hearing was muffled. There was a sharp prick in his thigh and he felt dizzy. He was raised in the air and felt himself being carried away. He passed out.
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When Jack came to, he was bleary. He appeared to be standing, his head free, his chin on his chest. He tried to move, couldn't. There was clicking and whispering all around and what he thought was the flutter and crack of a fire.
He wanted to groan but held himself back. He kept his eyes closed and waited for the dizziness to pass, waited to feel awake. He breathed evenly and tried to feel each part of his body in turn. There was no pain. Some stiffness, particularly in his thigh, back and neck, but any paralysis seemed gone - he could flex every muscle he knew about. Something hard was at his back. There was heat from some source a way in front of him.
When he felt as good as he figured he could, he opened his eyes a slit. The picture took a moment to resolve. The light was dancing but strong. His body was still wrapped in gauzy silk. In addition, there were thicker cords around his chest, arms and legs that he guessed were pinning him to whatever was behind him. Below his feet were rough wooden boards.
There was nothing else to see with his head down. The sounds didn't change, nor the tactile sensations. The soft scents meant nothing. Time to show his public he was awake.
He opened his eyes and raised his head. "Ho-ly Buckets!" Some of the noise died down.
From his left came Teal'c's voice. "It is indeed an impressive place."
"I'm going with terrifying," said Jack.
"That also."
It was night. They were standing on a large platform built amongst the massive branches of a tree. Jack figured it was the tree trunk at his back. Other massive trees were a way beyond the edge of the platform. The branches were thick and flat on top, forming pathways between the trees. Huge woven tents, cocoons and nets were attached to the trunks or hung amongst the trees. They seemed to be made of silk and leaves and vines. They were visible due to large, shining, woven lanterns that were scattered everywhere, the distant ones like stars among the trees.
About ten metres away was a large fire. Everywhere, there were spiders. They were around the fire, standing on the platform, sitting on and hanging from the branches of the trees. They were all far too big, from the point of view of any human. The smallest Jack could see was one of three standing in front of him but facing away - it was roughly four feet across. The average appeared to be five or six feet, and three on the platform were larger, the largest appeared over eight feet across. Jack fought the primal fear that threatened to overcome him.
"You okay, T?" Jack asked, turning to him.
"I am well, O'Neill."
Beyond Teal'c, Jack saw Sam, similarly bound, still unconscious, her capped head hanging. He turned the other way. There was Daniel, asleep, tiny threads caught in the knot of his bandana, glasses missing.
Jack returned his attention to the spiders. They had turned towards him, silent while he talked. There was a movement, a clicking and whisking from one of the spiders with its back to the fire. It was black and hard to make out. The three immediately in front of SG-1 turned back. The smallest clicked sharply and took a step forward.
Jack studied the three. The smallest stood on the left. It had a hard black body with a red cross on its back, and thin, black legs with little hair. Jack did a double take. It had wide, colored threads wrapped in patterns around its upper legs. Strapped to its front lower legs, were two pouches with shards of black rock and red crystal sticking out.
The next could have been the one Jack had met in the forest - a dark brown and black, shaggy body and legs, with no adornment. It had lowered its body to the ground and sat with all legs but the two front ones tucked under. The front legs stretched towards the fire. It looked relaxed, in as far as Jack could tell, but its head was held up alertly, a Sphinx pose.
The last was larger, maybe seven feet across, a pale grey body and legs, with white and dark grey stripes. It too had wide threads around its legs, pale blue, luminescent threads, wrapped in simple cross patterns all the way down and set with tiny glowing red crystals. Its abdomen rested on the ground, thorax and head held high.
The spider sounds had resumed.
"T," whispered Jack.
"O'Neill."
"Any ideas?"
"None whatsoever. I believe we must wait for them to make their decision."
"Any idea about that?"
"I awoke when I was bound in place. The spiders were gathering all around and several of those you see on the platform were making a great noise. They lunged at us several times. One made a dash towards me. It stabbed with its fangs but before they could connect, the spider that stands to our right knocked it away. The first spider bristled and four others stood by it but the one now on the left joined my first protector and my attacker fell back. Then came the middle one and all others fell back into the positions you now see."
"So, Itsy, Bitsy and Muffet don't want us dead yet."
"Indeed."
They were silent for a moment, listening to the spiders. Voices seemed to come from many places, not just the platform. Most of the movement was around the fire. A line of five spiders were set against the three. Others stood or hung around the two lines.
"Was not Muffet the girl who was frightened?" asked Teal'c.
"How do you know that?" asked Jack.
Then Daniel groaned.
Jack turned to his archaeologist. His head was rolling and twitching.
"Daniel. Danny, can you hear me?"
"Ugh. J'ck. Jack?"
"Wakey wakey, Daniel. Time for you to be the best linguist you can be."
Daniel's head rose and he blinked rapidly. "Jack?"
"How're you feeling?"
"Rough. OK." Daniel opened his eyes wide and blinked. "Better than I would expect. I've lost my glasses. I can't see much - a fire and something glimmering; several ... large, dark shapes."
"That's fine. Really. You're better off."
"Really? Spiders?"
"A great many," said Teal'c.
"OK. Myopia is my friend."
Sam groaned.
"Morning, Carter."
"Ugh."
"How you feeling?"
"Groggy."
"It'll pass. Then you'll wish you were still asleep."
After a moment Sam gave a soft gasp. "Ho-ly Hannah!" she exhaled. "This is incredible."
"What?" said Daniel.
"This is awesome."
"What?" asked Daniel. "What am I missing?"
"Nothing," said Jack.
"It's a town," said Sam.
"A town? Damn it, where are my glasses?" Daniel began to struggle. "I have my spares if I could just get to them."
The spiders were watching. The line of five started to move towards them. The biggest of the three stood. The smallest rose slightly. The middle just lay where it was.
"Daniel. Might want to stop struggling. I think you're escalating the situation."
"Oh. Sorry. What's happening? They're intelligent, aren't they?"
"How the hell did you guess that?"
"Apart from the fire? We didn't have time to tell you. The sails of the windmills were made of a strange sort of silk."
Jack was looking at Daniel so it was out of the corner of his eye that he saw a dark shape leap. It flew as a shadow through the firelight and landed in front of them. Jack's muscles bunched with opposing instincts - to run and to step in front of Daniel. Both were thwarted by his bonds.
Itsy and Muffet flanked the newcomer. It made a series of hard clicks. Daniel copied them.
There was silence but for the fire. Then the newcomer made a sudden move towards Daniel. Muffet got between them and Itsy executed a respectable body check that knocked the attacker several feet away. Several other spiders moved up next to the attacker. A few others stood beside Itsy. A fury of clicks and whispers filled the night.
Jack raged inside at his paralysis. It was hell to depend on others for his defense, on unknown, unknowable creatures that were as alien at home as they were here.
Then the darkness moved. From the corner of his right eye, Jack saw a dark mass rise and move towards them. He looked. There were no lights behind it but the firelight glowed on its legs and flanks. A spider twelve feet across approached, its body poised, its legs undulating but still with the scuttle that moved its Earthbound cousins.
"Shit," said Jack.
"Ha'shak," breathed Teal'c.
"Fuck," said Sam.
"What?" said Daniel.
"You don't want to know."
"Actually, however bad it is, I would really prefer to see it."
"It's a twelve foot spider."
"Oh shit."
A few slow deep clicks, like the cocking and locking of guns echoed through the trees. The spiders all drew back from the humans. Then Bitsy got up and moved over to Daniel.
It sat on its abdomen and clicked at him. He swallowed and clicked back, a little slower. It clicked and whispered. Daniel copied it, not quite right but close. Close enough, Jack hoped. They did this a few more times before the spider fell silent. It seemed to be looking at Daniel's face, perhaps even his eyes, but since Bitsy had eight, soft, plain, red-brown eyes the size of limes it was hard to be sure. Hell, nothing was sure, for all they knew, Daniel had just declared war, agreed to be eaten or got married again.
The spider got up and moved to Itsy, the smallest of the three 'defenders'. It reached towards the front foot and then moved towards Daniel on seven legs, the eighth holding a rock shard. As it reached towards him, Jack saw that its front legs thinned and divided near the end into two opposing appendages, one smaller than the other. He also saw that in essence, it was carrying a knife.
"Daniel, don't move."
"Not actually possible, but I appreciate the thought."
Very delicately, Bitsy cut the bonds holding Daniel, then used its remaining three forelegs to remove the silk. The occasional nip from its fangs helped the process along. Daniel stayed very still, sweating and trying to breathe.
"You OK?" whispered Jack.
"Mm hm." An affirmative.
"Pissed yourself yet?"
"Mm mm." A negative.
"I'm impressed. Fighting my own bladder here."
At last Daniel was free. Bitsy stepped back and resumed her sphinx-like pose, this time facing Daniel, diagonal to the fire. Daniel took a couple of deep breaths then stepped gingerly forward. Very slowly, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his spare glasses. He raised them to his eyes and sighed.
"Broken," he said. He lowered them. There was some rustling from the branches above them, a quick clicked conversation and then a brown spider slowly descended some feet away on silk. It scuttled over to Daniel on seven legs and held its eighth out. Daniel reached out.
"My glasses." He took them, surprised and delighted. "It must have picked them up. Thank you," he said to the vague shape before him, and nodded his head. Then he repeated the words slowly, emphasizing the sibilant and the click, and adding an outbreath on the 'ou'. "Thank you."
The spider scuttled away. Daniel put his glasses on.
"Oh. Oh wow. Oh my. This is incredible." He gazed all around. "And terrifying. Really too many of you for comfort." He looked at Bitsy and Muffet. "Wow, you're ... huge." He turned all the way and saw the biggest spider. "Oh, my mistake. You're huge. They're merely ... very large." He licked his lips. "OK." He nodded his head, turned back to Bitsy and raised his eyebrows. "Jack," he said, "do we have any string?"
"String?"
"Uh. Oh, the cord of your sunglasses. And Sam's too."
Daniel moved to Jack and started tugging at the threads round his neck, trying to reach the cord. Various spiders took up a stance.
"Daniel," Jack said in warning.
Daniel was oblivious. He worked one finger under the threads and hooked the cord. Then he frowned. "Actually, I'm going to need you or Sam too. Maybe Sam, her fingers are smaller."
He pulled at the cord but the bonds were so tight, the glasses wouldn't move. "Hmm."
He went round to Sam and then faced Bitsy. He gestured at Sam and drew his knife. A whisper went round the spiders and Jack felt a thump of fear. Daniel didn't make contact, however; he simply pretended to cut and nibble at Sam's bonds, putting down the knife to use his forefingers as fangs. Bitsy watched then walked up to Sam and freed her.
Daniel grinned hugely and took Sam's glasses cord. "It might be long enough on its own. We'll try and if it isn't, we'll see if they'll let us get Jack's too." He removed the cord from the glasses, and tied the ends together.
"Long enough for what?" asked Sam.
Daniel looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "Did you ever play Cat's Cradle?"
"Not ... much. Couple of times. It seemed kinda pointless."
Daniel began to lace the loop around his fingers. He glanced up and smiled. "You had go-karts and radios to build."
"Yeah. And stink-bombs." She returned a shaky smile.
Daniel's smile grew. "Well, one of my foster sisters taught me this. Then, when I was studying anthropology, I learned about the string game which is played in many cultures." His hands ready, he approached Bitsy and knelt down. "Come on, I'll tell you what to do."
Sam looked at Bitsy, at Daniel kneeling two feet from the creature, looking so small, though his head was higher. She licked her lips and approached slowly. The spider made no move. Sam knelt slowly in front of Daniel, her toes tucked under for a swift getaway.
"Do you see the crosses?" asked Daniel. "Pinch one between each thumb and forefinger, pull them out, that's right, then down, under, good, now turn your fingers, just the pinched fingers, up and push up and take the string, fine, now open your fingers and make them the four corners of a taut rectangle. Good, great, that's it. Now it's my turn."
They went through a basic game. Then Daniel began to show Sam how they could make shapes. Each of these he showed to Bitsy and said a word. The most important was 'Spider'.
After a while they stopped. Bitsy stood immediately, sending Sam scrambling backwards. Bitsy, however, approached the biggest spider and spoke at length. The opposing spiders broke in from time to time but Bitsy overrode them.
The giant spider gave a command. Jack and Teal'c were freed. Then all spiders but Itsy, Bitsy and Muffet fell back, leaving a path to the edge of the platform. Very gently, Bitsy reached out its front foot to Daniel. He tentatively put his hand in the spider's. It pulled him towards the edge of the platform. The others followed, flanked by Itsy and Muffet.
A branch led away, three times the width of a man. Daniel looked down, though, swallowed and drew back. "Oh, that's a long way down."
Jack peered over. "Yeah. I don't think this a good plan, Daniel."
"Well, they could just throw us over the edge from here."
"Maybe they think watching us fall is more fun."
Sam and Teal'c took their turns looking over the edge.
"There is no reason for us to fall, O'Neill. This path is broad enough to walk on with ease."
"Vertigo can do funny things to a person's sense of balance, T. I don't think Daniel is going to find this cakewalk."
"I'll be fine. I'll just not look down. Really."
"You'll have to look down a bit," said Sam, "to know where you're putting your feet. You don't want to wander off the edge."
Daniel shut his eyes. "Thank you, Sam, that ... really didn't help."
Something smacked Daniel's stomach. He looked down and saw some softly shining silk stuck there. He followed it back to Muffet. The spider scuttled round him, Jack and the others jumping back out the way. When it had been round twice, it ran out onto the branch, still trailing silk, and turned to look back at him.
"What do you know?" said Jack. "A safety rope. Let's go."
"Indeed," said Teal'c. He went first. Daniel followed, Jack close behind, Sam on their sixes.
They walked close to each other along several pathways, treading carefully on the rough bark, and taking small steps up and down the dips. Daniel lost his fear as he and Sam wondered and exclaimed at the sights of the spider town. They babbled happily, pointing things out to each other, each speculating in their own way about the science and the culture and the opportunities for study.
Jack and Teal'c threat-assessed silently, though the basic threat level was high and the positives were 'we're not dead yet, we're not injured'. There was little to nothing they could do if things turned ugly.
They came to a place where the branches encircled a wide clearing. There were softly glowing lanterns set at intervals all around. In the clearing hung, from high above, a sack made of a multitude of thick strands. In the sack were dozens, perhaps hundreds of round yellow balls.
"It's like the ball net at school," said Jack.
"It's an egg sac," said Sam.
"Oh boy."
There was shuffling nearby. Two spiders dragged something to them and laid it at their feet. It was the desiccated corpse of a Jaffa.
"Oh boy."
Then they were lead to another clearing, just past the first, unlit and still high in the trees. Several spiders stood around the edge. Muffet approached and spoke. The spiders fastened strands of silk to the edges of the clearing. The silk glowed, ghost blue, white, lilac. Muffet clicked again and the spiders launched themselves over the clearing.
It was an aerialist ballet, the spiders performing acrobatics beyond the greatest trapeze artist or gymnast. Eight legs helped. SG-1 was so entranced that they didn't notice what was being woven. Then the spiders scuttled back to the edges and there hung a beautiful, intricate, glowing tapestry.
It showed death gliders flying through the trees and firing at spiders.
They stared for a moment, lost for words. Then the tapestry fell and another was woven. This showed Jaffa warriors. Some were shooting spiders, others were taking eggs from the egg sac.
The last tapestry showed the death gliders leaving. Beneath them, eggs were falling from the torn egg sac and spiders were trying to save them and repair the hole.
The last tapestry stayed where it was. Itsy, Bitsy and Muffet stood around SG-1 and waited.
"Their eggs," said Daniel. "No wonder they're hostile."
"T," said Jack, "you know anything about this?"
"I believe so. There is a Goa'uld called Ictinike. He styles himself as a Spider God. It is said that he is guarded by giant spiders who roam his palace or mothership, wherever he is, and kill any who have not received his blessing."
"Don't tell me there's a Goa'uld in one of these brutes. That would be about five times worse than an Unas. Maybe more."
"I believe he inhabits a human body. However, I would not deny the possibility that one of his servants might have taken a spider as a host."
"Oy." Jack twisted his neck and let out a huff of air. "You ever fought Icky Nicky's troops?"
"I have not. Apophis' dominion was far removed from Ictinike's. However, I do know the address of his home world. It was emphasized to me that to travel to that world was most ill-advised."
"Great."
"Jack, we have to help them."
"Daniel, in the first place, how? In the second place, why? Third, even if we could and wanted to, how would we communicate this with them? Last of all, HOW?"
"Well..." Daniel looked around. "OK, how about..." He set off back the way they had come, apparently no longer noticing the drop. SG-1 looked at each other. Jack cast a glance at Itsy. Itsy was looking back at him. Jack shrugged at the spider and set off after Daniel. The others followed.
At the original platform, Daniel was kneeling by the fire, stubbing out a thin stick.
"Charcoal," said Sam.
Jack squatted by Daniel. He took a smoldering stick and stubbed it out.
"Now we just need to know what to draw," said Daniel.
"A 'gate address," said Teal'c.
They all looked at him.
"I assume you mean Icky Nicky's address, not ours," said Jack.
"Indeed."
"You know it," said Daniel.
"On one occasion, when Bra'tac was still first prime, we had been ambushed by Ra's Jaffa who destroyed many of our number. We fell back to the Stargate. Bra'tac was concerned that we would not all get through the 'gate before they were on us. He dialed an address I had not seen before. He said that we would emerge in a building with a long, deep pool reflecting light around the room; we should run straight to the pool and remain underwater as long as we could."
"Stay underwater?" asked Jack.
"It was not hard while wearing armor."
"I would think."
"When we surfaced, we each drank some of the water then remained where we were until the screams ended."
"Screams?" asked Daniel.
"They were ... unsettling. Ra's Jaffa followed us through the Stargate. It was night and the only light came from outside. I could see little but shadows scrambling and tumbling. Most of all there were ... sounds."
Sam shivered, Daniel looked green, Jack looked blank.
"When there had been silence for a while, we left the pool. There were trails in the dust where men had been dragged away. I tripped over a body, the face green and distorted. One spider body lay by the 'gate. It was of a size with most of those who surround us now but wore metal adornments in elaborate style. We left hurriedly but Bra'tac taught me the address, should I ever have need of it."
"Why did you have to drink the water?" asked Daniel.
"Bra'tac believed that it was Goa'uld magic that protected the drinkers from the spiders - Ictinike's 'blessing'.
"Some sort of repellant," said Sam.
"Indeed."
"It's a start," said Jack, "but I don't think we should just let these guys loose on the galaxy without knowing them better. Or send them off to fight Icky Nicky without knowing what he can do." He sighed. "I guess he's got the normal range of snakehead toys, ribbons, shields, the works?"
"I know little about him. The other Goa'uld avoid him when they can. They consider him ... creepy."
The others looked at him for a moment.
"They think he's creepy?" said Sam.
"Wow," said Daniel. "That's kind of like Jack saying someone's a bit aggressive. Teal'c, how long has Ictinike used giant spiders as his guards and his ... theme?"
"For centuries."
Daniel looked at Jack, "So, it's possible he's been stealing their eggs for centuries. He takes them, raises the spiders to obey him. They know nothing else. Even if this planet is a relatively new source of arachnid slaves for him, I'll bet they've lost their young more than once."
"Which means they'll want to stomp him more than us."
"It also means the spiders there won't know about these guys."
Jack bounced his stick thoughtfully. "So, Icky's outta the loop. And his main guards are spiders that he's raised himself." He began to smile. "We're gonna need to talk to Bra'tac. Carter, how's your practice with the ribbon-device?"
"Well, it's still kinda hit-and-miss, sir. It works best when I'm angry, unfortunately."
"I don't think that'll be a problem, Carter."
Sam was confused. She looked at Teal'c, who was looking at Jack with his head on one side, then at Daniel, whose eyebrows were drawn and mouth pursed.
"Sir?" Sam had a vague feeling she wasn't going to like this.
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They drew the Stargate, the eggs going through the 'gate, and the address to Ictinike's world without the last chevron. Then they did a whole lot more drawings with very little notion if they were understood. The stick spiders seemed to be recognized, and the stick men. Beyond that, they could only hope.
There was another gathering of spiders. Itsy and Muffet pushed them back against the tree they had originally been bound to. They weren't restrained though, and this time, the biggest spider held court.
"Seems like Aragog's made his decision," Jack whispered to Daniel.
Daniel looked at Jack with narrowed eyes. He had a feeling Jack was getting one over on him but he didn't get the reference. "Aragog?" He asked, not hiding his suspicion.
"It's in a book of Tessa and Kayla's."
"And what is 'Aragog' in the book?"
Jack looked at him. "It's a giant spider, Daniel."
"Oh. OK. Isn't that a little scary for them?"
"Not when you know your grandfather and favorite uncle are kick-ass soldiers who can take down anything or anyone that scares you." Daniel raised his eyebrows. Jack inclined his head, "So it's lucky we don't have to tell them about this mission." Daniel nodded.
It was impossible to tell how the spiders felt, or what they thought. Although there were clicks and whispers echoing around, none seemed to be significant, or in answer to Aragog's utterance.
The gathering suddenly broke, with spiders skittering in all directions, up and down trees, along platforms, some swinging away into the darkness. Aragog, stood with Itsy, Bitsy and Muffet. Some Itsy-sized, hard and mostly hairless spiders hung around. A soft grey and a small brown spider stood beside Muffet. They were all facing SG-1.
Then four large spiders, eight feet across climbed onto the platform. Each stood facing a human. The humans themselves instinctively drew back and looked at each other helplessly. Itsy and Bitsy came closer. Itsy clicked and hopped onto Bitsy. They stayed like that, while a nasty suspicion began to creep into the human minds.
"Oh no," said Jack quietly.
Daniel said, "How else were we planning on getting down, or getting back to the Stargate?"
"No!" said Jack.
Teal'c took a few steps towards his spider. It lay down. He walked to its side and carefully climbed onto its back. A spider above shot some thread at him, fixing him to the back of his mount. It stood. Teal'c managed to look like a stately jockey and horror film mutant man-spider at the same time.
"Ah crap," said Jack.
--------
They did not dial up as soon as they got to the 'gate. Jack felt he would like to be a little more composed when he spoke to the general. Sounding as though he had just had the third most terrifying experience of his life would not be good for convincing George that the spiders were possibly friendly. Besides, he wasn't sure that he could speak yet.
He sat on the ground, clutching his newly returned P-90, staring into the distance. He absently patted and stroked Daniel on the back while the younger man lay facedown on the ground and whimpered.
Sam was sitting on the ground, clutching the base of the DHD, trying to relax her muscles and come to terms with the embarrassment of having screamed like a girl most of the way. She was helped in this by the fact that the Colonel and even Teal'c had loosed some cries of dread. She was convinced that the Colonel's apparent control was mostly due to terror-induced lockjaw.
Teal'c had tried to stand but his legs wouldn't do it. He fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to the Earth. He stayed that way for long moments before sitting back on his haunches and swaying gently.
The spiders were aerial acrobats, swingers, adrenalin junkies, with no apparent sense of gravity. They did, however, have the ability to run up and down trees, to swing, soar and leapfrog at incredible speed while petrified humans clung to their bodies with all four limbs and screamed. It was impressive. The last couple of klicks on the ground from the forest had passed at spider sprinting speed. It hadn't helped to calm the nerves. Particularly with the grass whipping by and sudden birds shooting up from where they had been disturbed.
The dawn was starting to take over the sky. A couple of times Muffet approached and clicked at them. Finally, Sam, stabilized by steadfast technology, stood and dialed Earth. Jack gave Daniel a final pat and stood. Daniel rolled over. He stared the sky a minute and then got shakily to his feet. Teal'c stood, his poise rolling over him to hold him straight again.
The wormhole established. The spiders leapt back. Jack clicked his radio, identified himself and asked for General Hammond. One of the spiders approached the steps to the 'gate. Daniel gently held it back.
General Hammond's voice came through the radio. "Is everything all right, Colonel? You missed your check-in."
"It's been an interesting day, sir. I think we've got a chance to make some allies and deal with another Goa'uld. We're going to need some equipment, though, and a couple of helpers."
--------
It had taken a long time to persuade General Hammond that they should try this. The trouble was, neither he nor Jack could see what else to do. Jack was pretty sure that had they tried to leave the planet without doing anything for the spiders, they would be prevented or accompanied.
They could have just given them the address for Ictinike's world. That didn't feel right, though. The consequences were too unpredictable. Plus, if a Goa'uld managed to burrow its way into Aragog's brain, Jack wanted to know about it.
While they waited for the supplies, they dozed on the ground. Spiders sat or lay all around. Who knew if they were awake or asleep? Part of Jack freaked out at sleeping surrounded by strange aliens. It was a small part though. Most of him was tired of being scared . His logical brain knew that if the spiders decided to hurt them, being awake wouldn't help.
"They're not going to hurt us," whispered Daniel, reading Jack's mind. "They could have killed us any time since they caught us. There's no reason for them to change their minds now."
"You can't know that. You can't know them."
Daniel patted Jack's shoulder. "Try to sleep."
They woke when the chevrons locked. Bra'tac and another Jaffa came through with a FRED. Both stopped short. The new Jaffa fumbled with his weapon. The spiders hissed and stood. Jack and Teal'c leapt up.
"Stop!"
"Si'nu!"
The Jaffa looked nervously at Bra'tac. The old man slowly laid down his staff and held out his hands. With reluctance, the Jaffa did the same. The spiders subsided.
Teal'c stepped forward. "Tek ma te, Bra'tac. Ke'rac."
Bra'tac spoke very carefully. "Tek ma te, Teal'c. O'Neill. I know what these creatures can do."
"Yeah," said Jack, "We heard. But they haven't harmed us and they could have, any time. Doesn't mean they're going to let us go easy, though. I think we'll have to prove ourselves somehow."
"Very well. Hammond of Texas told me of your plan. It may work. Ictinike is distant from the other Goa'uld and his Jaffa serve him only out of fear. I believe they will rejoice in his death, and perhaps they will join us in our battle."
"Good. You got the clothes?"
Bra'tac smiled. "Indeed. Jaffa armor for us and for Teal'c. Priests robes for you and DanielJackson. For MajorCarter, a ribbon device and appropriate garments."
"Good," said Jack, "let's get changed."
Sam looked suspiciously between Jack and Bra'tac. "What do you mean, appropriate garments?"
"I do not know what you would call them," said Bra'tac. He opened a box. "Here they are."
"WHAT?! Sir, no way."
"Oh yes."
--------
Jack snuck a look at Carter's face. Yup, still pissed. She refused to look at her teammates.
Daniel essayed an approach. "You really look good, Sam."
Sam spoke between her teeth. "Says the man in the all-over priest robes."
"You're the only one who can get an audience with Ictinike."
"Fine but why do I have to look like this?" She swung her arm down to encompass her body.
Teal'c spoke, "Goa'uld females are not known for the modesty or subtlety of their clothing."
Sam pursed her lips.
Jack said, "Maybe we should have asked Anise to do it."
Sam shot him a venomous look, "That lowdown, double-dealing, self-righteous slut?"
"See? She'd make a great Hathor."
Sam stood tall in her low cut, red silk, figure-hugging minidress, high-lacing strappy sandals, Cleopatra headdress, heavy gold jewelry, and too much stylized make-up. Her ribbon device began to glow. "I kicked Hathor's ass, I could kick Anise all the way back to her boring, prismatic snake-hole. Icky better watch out. Let's do this."
"Daniel, dial her up."
--------
They took the 'gate at a run and sped out the other side, leaping the altar at the bottom of the stairs and sliding to a halt by the temple's reflecting pool. They dropped their mouths to the water and took a long drink each. The sounds of clicking and whispering began to fill the air. Jack looked around, prepared to blast away with his P-90 through his robes. They weren't going to snatch it off him this time.
Over the last few years working with Daniel, Jack had absorbed some architectural knowledge. He had a notion they were now in a temple. The ceiling was high, decorated and cracked, shards of lilac sky breaking the cream, brown and bronze. There were arches leading to dark passages, curved pillars, and the gory altar was kind of a give away.
There were webs all around. Some glinted beautifully in the sunlight that flowed through the gaping hole in the wall. The spiders crept out of dark archways and climbed the walls, moved along the floor towards them. They were mainly dark; many wore gold ornaments and some, armor plate. Goa'uld tailoring and accessorizing. Jack raised his P-90, Teal'c, Bra'tac and Ke'rac raised their staff weapons.
Then Itsy and four others came through the 'gate. They stumbled a few steps and paused. There was ice on their backs and Jack guessed they were feeling spider-nausea. Then Bitsy and Muffet came through, ramming into the back of them. They hurriedly scuttled out of the way and a few more spiders appeared.
The temple spiders all froze. They faced the newcomers, making no sound, no movement. Muffet stood high and clicked loudly, the sounds bouncing off the walls. A pause then a couple of whispers and clicks sounded from corners of the room.
Then the biggest temple spider, about eight feet across, shoved forward. It had gold bands on its body and every leg; on the left front leg was a ribbon device. It looked at SG-1 and its eyes flashed gold.
The Goa'uld spider clicked loud and low. Bitsy answered and Muffet. The Goa'uld roared again and the temple spiders started to advance.
Jack had to hand it to Aragog. The giant knew how to make an entrance. One long, dark, hairy leg stretched from the wormhole. Another appeared and braced against the edge of the step, pulling the rest of the spider out. Head, body, more and more legs appearing, finally Aragog stood before the Stargate, blue light shining behind and sunlight ahead.
The blue light burst and vanished. Aragog was gilded with sunlight and descended slowly to the floor. Jack noted that the Goa'uld was staring at this new foe. It stepped forward and stood before Aragog. It had been the largest in the room. Now it was made to look small.
Aragog spoke, the strongest voice there. The Goa'uld spoke, Aragog answered. The Goa'uld raised its ribbon device and fired a blast at Aragog. The giant spider moved back about a foot. Then it advanced. The Goa'uld scuttled back a few steps and fired a ribbon, connecting to Aragog's head. Aragog just kept walking forward into the beam.
Jack smiled grimly. Much as he would have loved to watch such an epic confrontation, he decided that they should get the hell out of Dodge until the dust settled. Besides, they had their own confrontation to play out. With hand signals, he ordered his team to leave the temple. The spiders paid no attention to them.
They reached the entrance of the temple and looked back. The Goa'uld was shouting. Some of the temple spiders were starting to move forward. One leapt towards Itsy. The battle began.
"Arachnid rumble," murmured Jack. "Let's get outta here."
The others began to run across the plaza. Jack watched for a moment more. This was, after all, their way of escape. There were more temple spiders than free ones but it looked as though they had never learned to spider fight. The free spiders were winning with ease. As Jack watched, the Goa'uld broke off its ribbon attack and leapt away from Aragog.
Jack turned and followed his team. He was pretty sure that the L3K spiders would win. If they didn't, there was always a chance the humans could grab a tel'tak. While avoiding pissed off temple spiders? whispered his mind. He ignored the thought. First, they had to deal with Icky.
--------
There was a broad paved plaza outside the temple, of pale brown stones with faded painted patterns. To the right, dark clouds were gathering. Storm light colored the buildings and the scattered trees that grew between the paving stones, bare, dark and twisted. Small cobwebs hung from the branches. Small spiders hung upside down.
Jack thought for a moment. Maybe these spiders weren't so small. They would be large tarantulas on Earth. Somewhere along the way, his perspective had shifted. Probably at that first encounter in the forest.
Some way ahead was a palace. They walked towards it, Teal'c and Ke'rac in the lead, Sam next, Jack and Daniel third, and Bra'tac in the rear. They were following a rough path engraved with geometric webs and spirals.
"Carter?"
"Sir?" Sam was still pissed.
"You don't look right. You need to look more ... sultry. Swing your hips."
"Sir?" Poison dripped from the word.
"Hathor got her way through seduction. You gotta look like a slut queen. It's not just in the clothes. Now, see, that's good. You've got the Goa'uld death glare down."
"Very 'die mortal scum'," said Daniel. "Definitely intimidating."
"Right," said Jack, "but Hathor mainly did sexy. Can you give it a try?"
Sam's death glare sailed past Goa'uld level and ended the race in first place with Basilisk. Jack watched as she wrestled with the desire to strike him with the nearest heavy object. He gave her high marks for professionalism when she just said, "I'm saving it" and stalked on.
Jack watched her go. The ribbon device glowed gently.
--------
The palace was single storey, the famous Goa'uld delicacy of taste displayed in a mass of black granite and thick gold. The entrance was dark.
Jack watched Carter out of the corner of his eye. Though he had joked before, she was key to this plan. If she couldn't convince as Hathor for long enough, they would be toast. Or spider food. Toast for spiders.
Sam was standing with her head bowed and eyes shut. She breathed deeply, once, twice, three times. Her back straightened, her shoulders drew back, her head raised. She opened her eyes. Jack was slightly surprised that they didn't flash gold. She touched her hand to the thick gold jewelry at her throat that hid the voice distortion device.
"Come," said Sam, in a British accent overlaid with the chilling Goa'uld echo, "Ictinike awaits. An alliance is at hand that will spread our worship once more through the galaxy. Power will be mine and all my true followers will know ecstatic delirium."
They all bowed to her. Teal'c and Ke'rac lead the way into the palace. Sam sashayed after them. Jack was impressed. He would never have guessed Carter could do that. Perhaps they had a chance.
The entrance led into a large hall, done in garish Gothic. It was dark and, no surprise, there were spiders. There were also two Jaffa, helmets closed. Teal'c approached one and spoke in Jaffa. Jack really had to get round to learning that, one day.
He could guess what was said, though. After a brief conversation, a bit of aggressive posturing and, Jack presumed, general dissing, one of the Jaffa walked off. Teal'c turned and bowed to Sam, said something else in Goa'uld and held his arm out the way the Jaffa had gone. Sam nodded and they all followed. Teal'c, Bra'tac and Ke'rac had to leave their staff weapons behind but that was expected. They had zats.
The passage was broad and high. The floor and ceiling were black etched with thin silver lines forming webs. The walls bore friezes of victories and tortures, copper people bowing to the might of Ictinike, and the god in grim golden state above them, throwing out silver lightning and red-gold fire.
The real Ictinike was less colorful. White-faced and black-haired, black-clothed and handsome, he reminded Jack of a romanticized vampire, the kind that daft women wanted to bite their necks. Was there ever a Goa'uld who wasn't a cliche?
The Goa'uld sat on a throne, of course. Had none of them, Jack wondered, ever heard of a La-Z-Boy? Or tried to invent such a thing? Because he had sat on these Goa'uld thrones and they were all style over comfort.
The room was lit by torches, the light glittering off a silver web embossed on the wall behind the throne. The throne was on a dais up five stairs. On either side was a wide platform and on each was a six-foot spider, black and ornamented with gold. Two Jaffa stood by the door and two more by the left wall. The First Prime stood to the side of the stairs and a mostly naked pageboy sat on the top step.
The Jaffa leading them knelt and spoke. They heard the word 'Hathor'. Ictinike waved lazily. They approached. Teal'c and Ke'rac paused half way to the throne. Sam moved to the front and the rest of them knelt.
"Ictinike, Lord of Spiders, Terror of Nekortan, Conqueror of Nyiko and Phobetor."
"Hathor, fallen Mother of the Gods."
Sam's lip curled and her lidded eyes filled with anger. Ictinike did not seem troubled. Maybe Carter needed to work more on that death glare.
"Why have you come to my domain?" He asked.
"I have come to form an alliance with you. I believe that together we can build a mighty empire. I offer you endless armies of Jaffa and the power of nish'ta. Combined with your spider warriors, we shall crush our enemies and rule as King and Queen of the Gods."
Ictinike smiled. He nudged the pageboy with his foot then leaned back in his throne. The boy went to an alcove and began to fill a goblet from a flagon.
"So," said Ictinike, "you come to beg my help..."
"I come to offer equal alliance!"
"... to help you regain the power you lost when you challenged Ra." The page boy knelt and presented the goblet. Ictinike gestured with it. "Is this the sum of your worshippers, Queen of Whores? Three Jaffa and two priests?" He drank from his goblet.
Jack marveled, wondering if this guy had ever met the real Hathor. Maybe it was a trick; surely the real Hathor would have turned him into a grease-spot for that. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the red jewel on Carter's hand brightening. Not long now.
Sam walked back between Teal'c and Ke'rac. "These are merely my most trusted warriors. A Champion and two First Primes stolen from their Lords. And these two..." she stood between Jack and Daniel, facing Ictinike. She pulled there hoods back, one with each hand, and ran her fingers roughly through their hair. "These two are my most devoted priests and favorite pets."
Jack could hear the sultry smile and the sex in her voice. He swore to himself he'd never tease her about not being sexy again. Then he scrubbed that as being dumb. All the more reason to tease her.
Sam walked forward again. "My troops are many but not strong enough to challenge for a place among the System Lords, and I lack ships. Both troops and ships you can provide."
Ictinike leaned back and dangled his goblet between his fingers. "And what will Ra think of this plan? I have no intention of angering the King of the Gods."
Sam regarded him a moment, a smile growing on her lips. She stepped slowly towards the stairs. "You need to move among you own kind, Ictinike. You are stagnating amongst your beasts. And you're out of touch. Ra is dead. Sokar is dead. Have you not heard of the rise of the Tau'ri?"
Ictinike frowned and shifted. "The Tau'ri? What of them?"
Sam laughed, and Jack wondered where she learned that sexy, scornful, crazy laugh, so far from her own happy chuckle. "The Tau'ri have begun to travel the Stargates. They attack the Gods and turn our slaves against us, yet they are protected by the Asgard so the System Lords do nothing."
Ictinike dropped his goblet and stood. He gestured and spoke sharply. The pageboy and the Jaffas all left, except the First Prime. The door closed behind them. The First Prime stayed standing below his master. Sweet, thought Jack. This guy really is out of touch, no-one's tried to kill him in years.
The Goa'uld looked at Sam, uncertainty clouding his face. She turned and walked away, swinging her hips. "But they create opportunities. Minor Goa'uld are defeated but the Tau'ri do not take their land and have not the power to consolidate their gains. These planets are ripe for the taking and the System Lords are too busy battling to gain the territories left by the once-powerful dead."
Ictinike walked down the steps.
Sam stood behind Bra'tac, leaning one hip against the back of his neck. She studied her fingernails and said, "The Tau'ri women have grown strong but not strong enough and the men are as weak as they ever were." Jack made a mental note to have a conversation with her about that statement, although he suspected it might not go all his way. Particularly if Doc Fraiser got drawn in.
Ictinike walked past Teal'c.
"They can be conquered," Sam continued, "and their power will make their conquerors the new King and Queen of the Gods." She looked at him through her eyelashes with a beguiling smile.
And now the Goa'uld was standing between Jack and Daniel. Close enough to feel that Sam was no longer a host. His ribbon device glowed. He drew a breath, his last.
Daniel dropped flat. Jack calmly emptied bullets through his robe into Ictinike. The Goa'uld fell into Bra'tac and Sam. Teal'c and Ke'rac fired zat blasts at the First Prime and the spiders. The First Prime fell but the guard-spiders leapt forward over the beams. Sam blasted one of them back against the silver web with the ribbon device. The other one landed on Teal'c.
Ke'rac zatted it but the weapon had no effect. Jack was struggling to get his P-90 out. The spider lunged forward, its fangs biting down. Sam dropped to one knee and blasted it with the ribbon device. It flew back but twisted in the air and landed standing on the silver wall web. The other spider stood on the floor by it. They tensed, ready to spring.
Jack succeeded in throwing off his robe. He knelt and aimed, Teal'c, Bra'tac, Ke'rac and Sam all in position around him, aiming zats and one ribbon device. "Jack, wait," said Daniel.
Ah, Daniel, thought Jack, I'm sorry. He and the Jaffa all fired at the two spiders. Bullets rent one of them, spraying the web with blood and viscera. The other was unaffected by the zats and leapt. Sam fired the ribbon device again, and with fierce concentration, pinned the spider in the angle between wall and ceiling.
"Sweet," said Jack. A movement below him made him look down. Daniel was kneeling up. He was splattered with blood. He awkwardly lifted a hand to wipe his cheek. Jack dropped to his knees, reached out his hand, touched Daniel gently. Daniel flinched. Jack was hurt but what had either of them expected?
The Goa'uld burst from the back of the host's neck. A staff weapon blast hit it and smashed it against the wall, pale blue blood spattering. They looked towards the dais where a slightly dazed First Prime dropped his staff weapon into his lap. He mumbled something in Jaffa and fell back against the wall.
Jack squeezed Daniel's shoulder hard. The blast had shot straight between their heads. He took a very deep breath, let it out hard. "What'd he say?" He asked Teal'c.
Teal'c answered. " 'I am going to hell.' "
"He'll have company. One more to send on its way and then we're outta here."
Jack took aim at the spider that Sam held pinned. Daniel grabbed his hip. "Jack, you don't have to, give it to Aragog, let her decide."
"I can't hold it long," said Sam. The spider was waving the ends of its legs, clicking and whistling.
Jack said, "Daniel, we don't even know if the L3K spiders won back there."
"It's not their fault, they were raised —"
"Like the Jaffa," said Bra'tac. "Slaves and glorying in their servitude to false gods. You cannot talk to it. You cannot persuade it, DanielJackson."
Sam was supporting her ribbon arm with her other hand. The gem was darkening. She spoke between gritted teeth, her voice still distorted. "Daniel, you're being an idiot! Always trying to help everyone, even if they're trying to kill us! What is wrong with you?"
The others gaped at her. Jack even stopped sighting along his weapon. Carter never, NEVER spoke to Daniel like that.
Sam continued speaking, her teeth no longer clenched. "Damn bleeding-heart liberal do-gooder. How many innocent people have these creatures killed? How many have they sucked dry in their webs?"
The gem started to glow again. Jack noticed and remembered Carter's words, 'It works best when I'm angry...'. He remembered his earlier taunting, designed to keep her annoyed, to give her that edge of anger. Carter was being far harsher to Daniel, though.
Sam was still speaking. "You saw the friezes. Nicky used these creatures to kill and torture for him. But they did it. You can't wipe that out by pleading an unhappy childhood. You can't say 'God told me to so that makes it right'. These are intelligent creatures, like us, they make their own choices. And right now, it would chose to kill us if it could."
She stood proud and tall, her hand outstretched, the ribbon-device responding to her will as though she were born to it. The men were at a loss, could only stare.
"You know," said Sam, "I'm going to have to start ranting about bad-science sci-fi cliches and Sunday drivers and low-fat everything if those DAMN SPIDERS DON'T GET HERE SOON. Hell, I may even have to start in on my father."
Jack couldn't wait to hear what she would say about Jacob and was most disappointed when Itsy sauntered in with a couple of cronies.
Jack gestured SG-1 and their Jaffa allies towards the door. The L3K spiders ignored them and walked towards the guard-spider. Sam backed up, still holding the spider in place. The gem was beginning to fade again.
Jack and Sam were the last to leave the room. They watched Itsy walk up the wall to stand beside the guard-spider. The other two spiders stood below.
"Carter. Ready?" Asked Jack.
"Yep."
"Go."
Sam let go the power and dropped her arm. The spider fell. The humans ran from the room.
They all jogged until they reached in intersection. There they paused, and Jack studied his team as they stood in a circle, waiting his command. Carter was wearied from using the hand device but she hid it and stood straight, hands behind her back. The Jaffa were tireless, no surprise.
Daniel was wiping his glasses on his robe, staring intently as he worked. He rubbed his face with his palm a couple of times then went back to his glasses. Jack noted the glasses were perfectly clean. He wished he hadn't had to kill someone right next to Daniel. There were blood drops drying on the short brown hair.
"Okay," said Jack, "we gotta search this place. We need to be sure all the Goa'uld are dead and see if there's anything we can scavenge. We got no idea what Aragog's clan are gonna do and whether we'll be able to return."
Bra'tac said, "Ke'rac and I will tell all the Jaffa to leave and return to their own world. I believe they will not be too grieved at Ictinike's death."
"And the humans? That kid we saw?"
"We will find a place for the boy. I do not believe there will be many others. Do not worry, they will return to their homes on Icitnike's worlds bearing joyful tidings to their people."
"Right. Christmas and Independence days wrapped up together. We'll split into two teams. Teal'c you go with Bra'tac and Ke'rac. We'll start at the entrance hall and you can take the left wing. Grab anything useful, check in every ten minutes. Keep me informed of any spider activity. We'll take the right wing. In two hours max we're out of here. Any trouble starts brewing with the cluster, make for the 'gate."
They all nodded and set off for the entrance hall. As they approached it, four Jaffa came towards them at full tilt. Jack raised his P-90, even as he noted they weren't carrying weapons. Carter and SG-1's Jaffa had their weapons up but they waited for Jack's word. He didn't give it and the Jaffa barreled past them without slowing.
Jack was about to order a retreat when he saw whiplash legs banded with gold as they skittered past the doorway. He gestured his team to the side and they sidled along the wall until they could see into the entrance hall.
Aragog and the Goa'uld spider were facing off. Spiders of all sizes surrounded them, in a hemisphere. The Goa'uld clicked loudly, time and again; no-one but Aragog moved.
Aragog moved, step by step. By step by step by step, Jack noted. Did the slow advance make Aragog more threatening or just nerve-wrackingly tedious? Whichever, Jack decided, it gave the Goa'uld time to realize that it was on its own.
The Goa'uld fired thread at Aragog. Aragog intercepted it on its leg and began to pull it in, wrapping the threads round its forelegs like a skein of wool. The Goa'uld was dragged towards him; it quickly released the thread.
Now, it scuttled back and forth, while Aragog ripped the thread off with its fangs. The Goa'uld raised its ribbon device. The Goa'uld raised its ribbon device, but had no more success than in the temple: the blast rocked Aragog slightly, moving the giant back a few inches, but then it continued its advance.
The Goa'uld leapt. Aragog dropped its head and leapt to meet the Goa'uld. They collided in mid-air. Aragog knocked the Goa'uld back, wrapped its legs around the smaller spider's body and came down on top of it.
The Goa'uld shrieked as Aragog's weight crushed it. It flailed its legs and cried out again before Aragog plunged its fangs into the spider's body.
Jack raised his weapon. He knew how this worked. The Goa'uld spider twisted and shrieked but it could not break free. Jack looked for space to fire a warning shot but there were too many spiders, too much chance of hitting one and bringing their vengeance down on his team.
The Goa'uld spider's struggles were ending. "Ah, crap," whispered Jack. He secured his weapon. "Carter, maintain position." Then he ran out into the room. "Hey, back off there, buddy," he shouted. "Get back, revenge ain't worth a snake in the head." To cap off his insanity, he whacked Aragog on the leg.
Aragog drew back its fangs and looked at Jack. It still held the Goa'uld spider tight in its legs. Jack put his shoulder to Aragog's foreleg and shoved. It moved back a little, exposing more of the smaller spider.
Jack saw wriggling beneath the skin of the dying spider. He jumped back as the Goa'uld surged out of the carcass. It reared and looked around. Jack guessed it had expected an instant transfer. As it was, it spotted Aragog and leapt for the giant.
Aragog reared backwards. The Goa'uld landed on its shoulder and bit. Aragog fell backwards and tried to reach its shoulder with its fangs. Jack dived and grabbed the Goa'uld's tail. The Goa'uld thrashed and tried to burrow into Aragog. Jack felt his hands slipping on its body that was slick with blood and living juices. He braced one foot against Aragog, dug his fingers in around the hood and heaved.
The Goa'uld came out and Jack fell onto his back. The Goa'uld lashed its body around his arm and tried to get at him, its split mouth hissing wide and snapping at him. He held it away from himself, and squeezed. It shrieked and writhed.
A large bifurcated leg took it forcefully from him. It held the Goa'uld down at the head while another leg descended on the body and mashed it. Jack had a weird vision of a woman's leg in a silk stocking, stubbing out a cigarette with a high-heeled shoe. OK. A really hairy leg. He never claimed to be a master of metaphor.
The Goa'uld lay silent on the floor, guts and pale blood spread on the black marble. Jack remembered Kawalsky. He drew his knife and skewered the head. Best to make sure.
He pulled the head off his knife, wiped the blade on his shredded robe and stood. He patted Aragog vaguely on the leg and returned to his team. He couldn't meet Daniel's eyes, spoke to Carter and Teal'c. "Let's shake this place down and get the hell out."
As they set off in two little teams, Aragog's shotgun clicks rang out and the spider whispers filled the hall.
--------
They found some whatchamacallits and thingamajigs that they liberated for study back on Earth. A couple were new but most were old. The Jaffa identified them as redundant designs. Icky Nicky really had been out of touch.
They told any Jaffa and humans they met to hightail it through the 'gate while the spiders remained disinterested.
In a large, low-lit room, away from the main corridors, Jack's team found spider eggs. The three large spiders that guarded them hissed and clicked threats. The humans backed off when a brief look showed the eggs piled up and a few baby spiders crawling through the spaces in between. By happy chance, they found Bitsy and lead her to the room.
They finished their reconnaissance and assembled in a corridor off the entrance hall.
All Icitinike's Jaffa and human servants were gone. The complex was being claimed by spiders. They paid no attention to any two-legged creatures. Aragog was in the large entrance hall. Many spiders hung in attendance, literally in most cases.
Rugs, or so they seemed to Jack, were being woven. Two completed rugs were being piled with eggs. As they watched, a net was placed over one set of eggs. Then four spiders each took a corner and lifted the rug. They set off out of the front doors. Heading towards the 'gate, Jack guessed.
They began to move along the walls, heading for the front doors and the 'gate themselves. Jack hoped they could escape unnoticed. He was weary and wanted an end to this mission. He wanted his own bed and he wanted a shower, wanted to wash off the dried sweat and the blood and most of all the fear.
Bitsy noticed them though. She and Itsy approached. Jack had no idea what now and looked at Daniel. Daniel had a frown line between his eyes. He scrabbled under his robe and pulled out his loop of string.
"Um," he said, "any ideas how I can make a Stargate?"
The humanoids had no answer but it turned out they didn't need one. Bitsy took hold of Daniel's hand and lead him out into the plaza. They walked towards the 'gate temple, spiders passing them in either direction, carrying eggs on the way there and running back to the palace empty-footed. Jack noted that a few of them wore golden ornaments. The L3K natives were reclaiming all their children, as best they could.
The day was ending, the way becoming dark. There were a few spider lanterns hanging from the trees. The smaller spiders clustered around them. Jack saw one tentatively touch its foot to the woven light while a large spider, dark grey with blue and pale green woven bands on its legs, stood upright against the tree and spoke in soft whistles and clicks.
In the temple, Daniel stood in front of the DHD pedestal. "I'm going to give them their address. I think that's what they need from us."
"Sounds right," said Jack.
Itsy and Bitsy watched carefully as Daniel pressed the symbols. Then the spiders began to take the eggs home. It would take a while, so SG-1.5 went to sit on some rocks at the side while they waited.
Sam sat by Daniel again. She looked at her boots. "Um. Daniel."
"It's OK, Sam."
"You know I..."
"I know."
"And you know, you know I didn't mean all that. I didn't mean... I just, I needed..."
Daniel smiled softly. "You needed to be angry. I know. And you were still a little bit 'Hathor'."
"Good."
"You meant some of it." Daniel said. Sam blushed and pulled in a sharp breath but Daniel spoke on. "Of course you did, it couldn't make you angry otherwise. And you were right about," he raised his eyebrows, stared into the distance for a moment then scrunched his brows again, "most of it." He gave a sideways smile. "I know it's not all you think though. I understand. I often think two ways about the same thing."
Sam nodded and stared at her shoes. Jack followed her gaze. He realized she had managed the flimsy, high-heeled concoctions all this time on this terrain. He was pretty sure that was an impressive feat, particularly since Carter was more of an army boots woman. He preferred her in boots. It made her far more useful, and a lot more comfortable to be around.
Sam looked up at Daniel again. "And you weren't freaked out by my being ... her? And, and, you know, um ... touching you, um..."
"No. It's OK."
"Good. If you do, maybe if you have bad dreams and then feel bad about me, or if it just comes on sometime. Tell me."
"I will." Daniel put an arm around her and hugged her. She hugged him back.
"So," Sam asked, "what kind of plan of attack do we need to get the best team on a long term project to study and connect with these guys?" She gestured at the spiders.
While she and Daniel fell to discussing scientific research application strategies, Jack looked at his own jaffa. "So T, Bra'tac, what do you think? Figure you can get some new converts from Nicky's old team?"
"I hope there will be some," said Bra'tac. "We will visit them soon."
Jack nodded. He tuned out as the three warriors fell to discussing strategies of persuasion. He returned to watching the spiders, taking such care over the eggs. A thought struck him. "Daniel?"
"Hm?"
"Back in the throne room. You called Aragog 'she'."
"Oh. Um, I suppose I always think of spiders as female. You know, Charlotte's Web and black widows and whatnot." He shrugged.
Jack nodded. Another piece of the inside of Daniel's mind. He wondered what damage had been done to that mind by Jack's casual execution of Ictinike and the deaths of the spiders Daniel came to save. He wondered what Daniel had thought they were going to do. He wondered if he should have left Daniel behind. He rather thought he should. He fell to considering how he could persuade Daniel to skip future missions bent on violence.
Eventually, only Itsy, Bitsy, Muffet and Aragog were left. Jack had no idea whether all of Nicky's spiders had gone to L3K or if many were left. He was glad there was a language barrier to prevent Daniel holding a discussion on the relative merits and dangers of integration of different cultures with variant values. It was wholly their decision. They were, after all, intelligent creatures.
He did feel a vague wish he could say something. The spiders may have felt the same. For a moment, the four teammates faced the four arachnids. Then Aragog turned and entered the 'gate. Itsy and Muffet followed. Bitsy touched Daniel's hand then left.
The wormhole winked out. Bra'tac dialed the jaffa base; he and Ke'rac made brief goodbyes and went home. The wormhole closed. It was just the four of them left on the seemingly empty world of one more dead false god.
"Dial it up, Daniel."
Daniel dialed and sent the code through. They were at the wormhole when Sam stopped suddenly. She looked down at herself.
"I can't walk through the SGC like this." She looked at them. "I'll never live it down." She turned to Daniel. "Give me your robes."
Daniel clutched a protective hand to the robes at his chest. "I'm only wearing my t-shirt and briefs under this. We sent our uniforms back on the FRED, remember?"
"T-shirt and briefs are better than what I'm in."
"O-K. Then you can have my t-shirt and briefs and I'll stay in the robe."
"I am not wearing your briefs. Give me the damn robes, Daniel."
"Why don't you take Jack's robes? He's the one who got you into this."
"He's my CO. If he doesn't offer, there's nothing I can do."
"Jack." Daniel aimed disapproval at the colonel.
Jack pushed them both into the wormhole.
"You will suffer for that, O'Neill."
Jack grinned. "I know."
They stepped into the wormhole.
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Fin
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